Invisible Strings
by Sweet as a Unicorn
Summary: Originally Ania the Great's story, though I have been given permission to take it over. There is a saying that everything living, whether it be plant, animal, human, or anything in between, is connected by invisible strings. Follow Esme as she discovers what is at the end of her string. Could it be love, adventure, or an untimely end? SYOC Closed!
1. Chapter 1

The town was overwhelming. It took Esme a couple of minutes to take it in.

People bustled around her, draped in a multitude of coloured robes and hats. Those people came in all shapes and sizes, colours and genders, and species. Esme could have sworn she saw a humanoid dog-woman walk past her. The buildings matched the unconventional people. Large, misshapen homes and stores lined the stone roads. Esme watched in wonder, observing the people go about their business, in wonder.

Suddenly, someone in a black robe trimmed in silver pushed into her. He didn't even stop to apologize. Though Esme took some of the blame for stopping in the middle of the walk way; but he didn't have to be rude about it.

"Excuse me!" she snapped.

Esme always had trouble keeping her mouth shut. As soon as those words slipped through her mouth, she bit down on her lip. That was pretty snide of her, and she knew it.

The boy stopped and turned his head to look at Esme. His narrow brown eyes peered at her through his shaggy bangs. The back of his black hair flared out a bit. He looked out right intimidating.

He continued his glare for what felt like ever to Esme. He finally turned back around and continued on with his stride, not saying a word to her. Even though no words were spoken except for Esme's outburst, she was terrified. Someone could have jumped her with a knife, and she would have felt just as scared as being glared at by that boy.

She shook off the terror and continued on with her self-tour. She needed to be at the headmaster's house almost as soon as she arrived at Wizard City.

Her brown boots tapped against the brown stones beneath her. She tried to look like she blended in by holding her head tall and not staring at everything. No one was looking, yet it felt like they were. It made the young girl feel even more awkward. She had a stutter in her step and her eyes darted around. She couldn't seem to keep up with her nervousness and had to lean against a nearby house. She was stressed and couldn't keep her breathing normal.

Trying to keep her mind off of her nerves, she took out a map from her pouch that hung around her waist and rested it on her knees. She looked around to figure out landmarks to help pinpoint her location. She was near the rainbow bridge, meaning she would need to continue walking for a bit and continue on towards the shopping district.

Esme stood up and put her map away. She brushed off her long, sky blue demoiselle dress. She threw her hood over her braided pink hair and continued on her way.

She tried to be calmer, but still couldn't hide her nerves. Her journey took shorter than she thought. Soon she was standing, facing the large gate that stood in front of the great house.

Emse took a deep breath and walked up to the door. With a great knock, the door opened. She slowly walked in. Once she was fully in the room, the door closed. At the other end of the room, standing in front of a desk covered in scattered paper.

It was Headmaster Ambrose. Esme remembered him from a newsletter in Avalon, where she was born. She actually shared a hometown with him.

"Welcome young wizard," he greeted.

Esme walked closer, only to stop a few feet in front of the old wizard.

Ambrose narrowed his green eyes at her. He seemed to look confused.

"May I ask who you are?" he asked. "I am afraid my eye sight is failing."

Esme exhaled. She thought she had done something wrong, but relaxed when she heard the reason for his stare.

"Esme Daycatcher," she responded.

"Ah, the Daycatchers. I remember your father," he said. "Nigel. He was a trouble maker. A Storm wizard if I am correct…"

Esme nodded and responded with a simple, "Yes."

"Well, we should figure out what type of wizard you are," he said.

He gestured towards a podium that lay against the right wall. On it was a large book, open to its dingy pages. Ambrose walked up to the book, closely followed by the confused girl.

"Don't be shy, step up to the book," he said.

She did just that. Ambrose stepped back and Esme began to read.

What is the most powerful?

"What do I do?" thought Esme.

She wasn't going to write in the book. Thankfully, it seemed the headmaster noticed her confusion.

"Just think your answer," he explained.

Esme nodded and turned her attention back to the book.

"Most powerful, eh?" she thought. "Hurricane."

The text in the book soon changed, revealing a new question. Esme almost gasped at this. It was amazing.

Her dad had kept her on a tight leash when it came to magic growing up. Though himself a trouble maker when young, she believed he didn't want her to go down that same path. Thus he made sure she didn't abuse magic by making sure it was limited around her.

What bests describes you?

"I am extremely well-rounded," she thought.

What is your favourite animal?

"What strange questions," she thought. "How will these decide my school fairly? Unicorn."

What is your favourite season?

"Spring."

It felt like it was a personality quiz you take in middle school, not something that will affect your life forever. Yet she continued on.

What is more important to you?

"Cooperating."

The words vanished from the page.

"Looks like you are almost done," stated Ambrose.

"Only five questions," thought Esme. "That seems pretty cheap."

"Now place your hand over the pages and it will decide what house you belong to," continued Ambrose.

She did just that. Suddenly light emitted from the book and encased Esme's hand. The yellow light remained there for a while, before disappearing. With the light's departure, a symbol appeared on the once blank page. It was a circle trimmed with gold. The background of the circle was brown and in the center foreground was a green leaf.

"School of Life," announced Ambrose.

He tapped the bottom of his staff against the stone floor and suddenly Esme was overcome with a dull, green light. As soon as it disappeared, Esme noticed her clothing changed. She was now wearing robes similar to what the boy wore earlier. Only her robes were a leafy green trimmed in a cream.

"All of your stuff will be at your dorm room, along with your clothes and wand," explained Headmaster Ambrose. "All you have to do is turn left when you exit here and follow the road to the gate. There you will reach Ravenwood."

Esme nodded.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she said.

"Of course, young wizard," he said.

Esme slightly bowed and left the house. Ambrose's directions were easy to follow and she easily made it to Ravenwood.

"What a huge place," thought Esme.

She looked at the buildings near her, but what really caught her attention was the huge grandfather tree in the middle of the campus.

She was only brought back to her surroundings when someone ran right into her. She was knocked forward and fell on her knees. She heard the other person hit the ground with a thud.

She got up and turned around. Esme was all ready to apologize to the person and help them up, but paused when she saw who it was. It was that boy from earlier. And when he noticed who she was, he glared.

He stood up and brushed himself.

"Why do you always stop where people walk?" he asked.

His voice was harsh and the tone was totally unworthy. Esme clenched her fists, almost snapping back her response.

"Why don't you ever look where you are going?"

Esme bit her lip after she said that. She was partially at fault here, but so was he.

The boy continued his glare, but soon scanned her clothing.

"A Life wizard… Figures," he said, smirking a bit and folded his arms.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

He just chuckled and just walked away.

Esme got so angry around him; she just wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Did you see that? She survived a confrontation with Alric Nightstrider," whispered a nearby student.

"And she even snapped at him," commented another.

"Alric, hm?" Esme thought to herself. "So that's his name. What a jerk!"

She continued on, following her map, to her dorm.

* * *

**This was originally Ania the Great's story, but I am taking it over. The powers of the Unicorn are spreading! *Insert evil laugh here***

**I did minor changes here and there to help the story flow better with grammar. Sorry if I missed any.**

**Anyways, I have all characters for this story already. All of them were submitted to Ania the Great, though I accepted all of these after she resent them to me.**

***I changed Esme's hair colour, with Ania the Great's permission, because their were many blondes. IT is now a faded, bubblegum pink.**

**Character list:**

***Raven Sandwind by Nike Slash**

***Sean Owlrider by TrueCharacter**

***Chase Rubyshard by dedicated Gillian**

***Esme Daycatcher by Ania the Great**

***Alric Nightstrider by Ania the Great**

***Marissa Cloudmender by Sweet as a Unicorn**

***Coyle Soulvault by fanficreader137**

***Joshua Ravendusk by DeathySophia**

***Ronan Lotussword by Si Fron Dimensional Creator**

***Arya Darlington by RunningQueenx5**

***Selene Frostflower by ThePeacockFeather**

***Quinn Dawnweaver by TrueCharacter**

***Talon Spellbringer by Sweet as a Unicorn**

***Valrian Spellbringer by Sweet as a Unicorn**


	2. Chapter 2

Esme left her dorm and stepped into Ravenwood. Even though it wasn't her first time here, it still was overwhelming. So many people, all knowing where they were going, unlike her, who just stared at the map in here hands.

"So… That is there…" she muttered. "But where am I?"

She twisted the paper around, trying to pinpoint her location. She looked around to look for landmarks, but she couldn't see around people. She felt helpless, completely helpless. Suddenly, she felt a hand fall onto her shoulder. She jumped a bit where she was standing and turned around.

Behind her stood a small girl. Her smiling face, framed with her caramel-coloured locks, stared up at Esme. She was swaying side to side, with her arms behind her back. She looked like a child.

"Ya' lost?" she asked.

Her voice rang out in a cheerful tone and her head tilted to the side.

"Yeah, I am looking for the School of Life," explained Esme. "I am new and I am supposed to talk to Moolinda."

The young girl nodded.

"How about I give you a tour?" the girl squealed. "It'll be fun!"

She took Esme's hand and began to pull her.

"But I need-" Esme started.

"I'm Raven by the way," introduced to girl, her brown eyes gleaming.

"Esme," she replied. "By I really-"

But Raven was ignoring Esme's pleas.

"You already saw the girl's dorms on the left side of the gate coming in. On the right side, coming in, are the boy's dorms," explained Raven.

Esme tilted her head as she got a good look at the two towers.

"Pretty small for all these students," Esme pointed out.

Raven chuckled.

"That's because not all the students live there," she said. "The older students, 14 and up, can choose to live off campus. I live in the dorms though."

Raven didn't seem to skip a step as she pulled Esme through the crowd of students.

"Most of these students rushing around are new students," she pointed out. "Don't think you are the only new one."

Esme looked at the older wizard.

"Why are you giving me a tour and not helping out more than one student?" she asked.

Raven shrugged.

"Because I can," she simply answered.

Esme didn't really like this answer, but she accepted it. It appeared Raven was one of those people who just went with her feelings. Esme felt a bit of pride knowing that Raven decided to help her out, though she remained a bit upset without a straight answer on what Raven saw in her to help.

"There is the School of Storm," Raven stated, breaking Esme's train of thought.

The building was made of grey, dingy bricks. The top of the building was lined with a thick, one-foot purple stripe. Scattered amongst the stripe was yellow lightning bolts; no particular order, chaotic. A grey stone arch attached the building to a grey tower. The tower had the same purple and yellow stripe along the top. The purple shingles poured down the roof, making it look like it was falling. Students surrounded the building, running around and causing chaos.

"Most of these people are chaos lovers," explained Raven. "See over there?"

She was pointing to a overly tall girl with a slim body. Her long, blonde hair reached her waist and let down. Her appearances as a whole could rival a model and make a prince blush.

"That is Chelsea Icebane," continued the older girl. "She is a Diviner, so Storm wizard. If Diviners are all about levels of creativity, than she is the highest level. Stay away from her or you may end up a purple toad with orange spots on the back. It happened to Brian Fairyheart."

Esme looked at the model and shuttered. Turning someone into a toad, just because... It freaked her out.

"They aren't evil. They just do it for fun," said Raven. "And don't think that all of them are like Chelsea. Over there is Sean Owlrider."

Raven pointed to a boy, no older than Raven herself. He stood there, talking to a couple other Diviners. His shaggy brown hair jolted up in odd angles. His grey eyes narrowing down on the people he was talking to. He appeared to be talking calmly with them, as evidence with the slight smile on his face.

"He acts like a big brother towards most of the younger students, though just don't do anything to anger him. His emotions can become sort of sporadic," warned Raven.

Esme nodded, taking mental notes on who to talk to and who to avoid.

"If you ever want to learn Storm spells, talk to Halston Balestorm. He is the professor for the school," added Raven. "Though I wouldn't suggest studying it. Storm spells tend to be chaotic and too much reliant on strength. Besides, Storm is opposite Fire and Ice. You don't want to go against us Pyromancers."

Esme looked at the older girl with a confused expression. "Pyromancer?"

"Fire wizards," said Raven. "We'll get to them soon."

She continued to pull the young, new wizard along. They soon came up to neater looking building than the last. It had the same grey bricks, though less dingy. And instead of the purple stripe, there was a blue one of the same size. Inside there were small white snow flakes. The roof of the building was made of blue shingles, neatly lying in their place. Attached by a similar arch like the last, was a tower.

"This is the School of Ice," said Raven.

Standing in front of the school were students dawning icy blue robes and hoods instead of hats.

"Thaumaturges they are called, or Ice wizards," she said, pointing towards the students. "They are annoying as hell. They consider being persistence the best way of winning. They aren't very strong and a lot of them are cold towards others outside of the school."

Raven was obviously annoyed at the thought of Thaumaturges.

"Well, the professor has to be better right?" asked Esme.

"Don't know," responded Raven. "Never really found out nor do I care to. Anyway, we are coming up on the best school, the School of Fire and home to Pyromancers."

A building of grey bricks lined with gold came up. The line along the top of the building contained flames of varying colours; the top were red, the bottom were yellow, and in middle were the colours in between. The roof was so red, it looked like it was on fire.

Students lined the building, leaning so and looking cool. Their cold eyes stared and analyzed new students who cautiously walked past them.

"You defiantly need to learn a few Fire spells," said Raven. "Just go in and chat with Falmea. She is the professor and super cool. Us Pyromancers are smart, quick to react, and thus also easily angered."

Esme looked at these people and retreated closer to Raven.

They pushed on. Though where Esme thought to be a school, instead there was an entire section taken out of the floating ground.

"What is this place?" Esme asked.

The air around the area grew heavy. There wasn't many people around, instead just one boy. His black shaggy hair peeked out from underneath his twisted, black joker hat. He didn't seem to notice them, instead had all his attention on his shoes.

"Only guy I know who can be entertained with his own shoes," commented Raven.

"Who is that?" asked Esme.

"Malorn Ashthorn," said Raven. "He is a Necromancer, or a Death wizard. He teaches Death spells."

Esme looked at the older girl confused.

"What happened to the teacher?" she asked.

Raven shook her head.

"You didn't hear from Ambrose?" she asked.

When Esme shook her head, Raven sighed even deeper.

"Malistaire Drake was once the Death teacher," she started to explain. "He was a powerful Necromancer, but didn't seem to want to harm anything or anyone. That all changed when his wife, Sylvia Drake the former Life professor, died. He became so angry; he crashed the Death school somewhere hidden. Ambrose told him he couldn't be around the students if he acts like this Malistaire became evil out of grief.

Now Malorn teaches basic Death spells. Nothing too complicated... Even though he was like the star pupil and could totally teach us them."

She rolled her eyes, getting ready to walk past the distracted boy. Esme hoped he wouldn't notice her. Alric was also a Necromancer and turned out to be a total jerk.

"Hey Raven," Malorn said, suddenly looking up at the girls. "Who's the newb?"

Raven started to introduce Esme and talk with Malorn. Esme went to back up, but suddenly ran into something, or someone. She turned around, ready to apologize, when she came face to face with the last person she wanted to see. Alric.

"You like to run into people don't you?"

* * *

**There, the last chapter written by Ania the Great. I did a few more corrections again. All the next chapters will be mine.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The first chapter I have written fully.**

**Forever shall the Unicorn rule!**

**I am getting ahead of myself. This story will feature Esme, Alric, and my character; along with a submission.**

* * *

"You like to run into people don't you?"

Esme bit her lip upon seeing Alric. She held back the snide comment on the tip of her tongue. This guy seemed to be everywhere, especially when Esme was just having fun; probably to kill her spirits.

Alric stared at the girl and rolled his eyes. He could care less about Esme and how anxious she appeared. It was obvious he didn't seem concerned about anything.

Raven looked over towards Esme and Alric, pulling her attention away from Malorn. Esme was obviously being intimidated by the tall boy. He was pretty scary looking at him, so Raven understood. She has had problems with him too.

She walked over to the younger girl and swung her arm around her shoulders.

"Are you bugging my new friend?" asked Raven with a pseudo-serious expression.

Esme could see the older girl was trying to help by being serious, but she failed. She looked like she was just being a playful kid again. While she was trying to intimidate the necromancer, she ended up just greeting him.

"She was the one who ran into me," stated Alric.

Malorn chuckled and walked over to the group. His chuckle sent a chill down Esme's back.

"Stop scaring girls, Alric," said Esme. "You'll never get them to like you if you look like that."

Malorn was teasing Alric. Esme was too scared to even make a remark and yet this boy was teasing Alric. Raven laughed, agreeing with Malorn. Esme was the one left quiet.

"What is with this guy? He is cruel towards people he has just met. While he doesn't need to say anything, one can tell he is thinking cruel thoughts by the look in his eyes," thought Esme. "And what is with me? I usually would be able to throw a retort out. Actually, I usually cannot keep the insults from getting me into trouble. Yet I cannot even seem to talk. It is like my voice is scared."

Esme thought this while she was looking around. She was trying to avoid the conversation and more importantly, avoid Alric's stare. While looking around, she noticed a boy standing somewhat behind Alric. She didn't notice him at first, being too scared by Alric. What startled her was the boy was staring at her with a smirk on his face.

The boy's hazel eyes peeked through his mess of jet-black hair. His wide grin set with white teeth contrasted against his evenly tanned skin.

"Hello," the boy finally said.

He pushed past Alric, who seemed unfazed,

"I'm Joshua Ravendusk," greeted the boy.

Joshua stood in front of Esme and she realized another reason why she didn't notice him at first, he was pretty short. It wasn't like he was short compared to Esme. She was like an inch above him. Yet compared to the other guys, he was small. He didn't seem to have much mass either to him.

Still, he didn't need to be tall or have much body mass to stand big. The boy seemed to radiate a strong aura that threw Esme slightly off.

"Leave Esme alone," said Raven.

Raven glared at the boy, only to get a deep smile back from him.

"Raven doesn't seem to like him," thought Esme. "I wonder why…"

As Esme contemplated what was going on, Raven and Malorn continued to talk. It appeared Joshua was trying to get into the conversation, but was being shafted by Raven. Alric remained quiet, glaring at Esme.

When she finally noticed, she almost jumped.

"Why are you staring at me?" asked Esme.

Alric sneered and gave a cruel smirk. He was really mean.

"You still haven't apologized for running into me," he replied.

Esme just realized she hadn't. This time was actually all her fault and she really should apologize; while she really didn't want to as it damaged her pride.

"Sorry about that," she muttered under her breath.

"About what?" asked Alric with a bigger smirk.

He seemed to enjoy degrading her. She remained silent. She wasn't going to apologize again.

"For what?" he almost snapped. His smirk disappeared. "You really should say what you are sorry for so it seems genuine."

What is wrong with this guy? He doesn't ever apologize, yet he expects people to be "genuine" with their apologies.

Before Esme could say anything, Alric pinched her nose.

"Ouch!" she squeaked. "Let go!"

"Apologize," he said.

He chuckled.

"Sorry for running into you!" she managed to say.

Afterwards Alric let go of her nose.

"Oh crap!" shouted Raven.

Esme looked over towards her new friend.

"I forgot I have to meet up with Falmea for a private lesson right now!" she freaked. "Sorry Esme, but I cannot finish up this tour. Alric, can you show Esme to the School of Life?"

Before Alric could refuse, Raven waved good-bye and ran away. Alric sighed and turned to his friends.

"Malorn?" he asked.

"Sorry dude, but I have to stay here just in case any Death wizards need help," he replied.

Alric turned to Joshua.

"You like girls," said Alric. "A lot. Help here."

"I actually got a date with the Daisyhaven sisters," replied Joshua.

He quickly left.

"Good," muttered Alric.

He grabbed Esme by the sleeve and started to pull her. She almost fell because of the sudden jerk. She had to jog to keep up with Alric's long strides.

"I guess I have to take you don't I," huffed Alric.

As he pulled her along, Esme heard students whispering.

"I wonder what that poor girl did to get on Alric's bad side," said one.

"She is being pulled by Alric Nightstrider," said another.

"Maybe they are friends?" asked the first.

"Nightstrider doesn't have friends," replied the other. "Maybe he is forcing her to be."

Esme listened and actually felt sorry for Alric. If she could hear them, surely he could. It must feel horrible to hear such crap about you from other people. He was his fault for setting up such a reputation, but that still is no reason for them to gossip about him.

Esme let out a sigh when Alric stopped. She almost ran into his back, but managed to stop herself.

"Here you go," said Alric.

With a push by Alric, Esme stood in front of the door.

"Thanks," she said.

She stepped into the building before anything else could happen.

Alric remained outside, shocked that the girl actually thanked him. He was rude to her and yet she thanked him. She seemed like a good person, but then again, she was a Life wizard. She probably is like every other Life wizard.

He shook his head and headed back towards Malorn. Maybe Malorn could teach him a new spell.

* * *

"Joshua! Joshua!" called out two girls.

One had pastel purple hair and the other baby blue. As they jumped, the surrounding boys watched their feminine bodies.

"Delaney. Destiny," greeted Joshua.

He walked up to them with a large grin on his face. He felt the other guys sadness as he threw his arms around both girls, marking his territory.

As they walked away together, the Daisyhaven sisters talked about anything and nothing all at once. Joshua found his mind wandering.

"What do I need to do to beat Alric?" he thought to himself. "Right now, the only two ahead of me are Malorn and Alric. I cannot beat Malorn as of now. He is way ahead of me. But Alric… I am close to catching Alric. If I could only get into his head… But how?"

Suddenly a certain bubblegum pink-haired girl popped into his mind.

"Alric seemed to like torturing that girl," thought Joshua. "Usually he just ignores people instead of torturing them. I wander why."

* * *

Elsewhere…

In the darkest of pits, a figure lurked. The identity remained unidentifiable as shadows danced around them making their face unable to be seen. Yet while they were unable to be truly seen, a powerful and terrifying aura also danced from them.

"Soon enough," said the figure in a deep voice. "Soon enough Ravenwood will be mine!"

As the masculine figure laughed, the shadows followed in suit.

_"Yes our lord! Yours!" _they laughed together.

* * *

**Looks like you guys got to meet a few characters.**

**Characters introduced so far are… Esme, Alric, Raven, Joshua, and Shadowy, Evil Figure (Name soon to come).**

**I still have 10 characters to really get in there.**


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